I buy or build uppers & lowers to fit specific goals or tasks, all of which are not the same.
I do not build heavy barreled, PRS type stocked rifles for any use..............just not my thing.
Barrels, stocks & rails are the 3 items that make up most of the weight in a gun so choosing light for those 3 has a huge impact on the weight of the gun.
For 18" barreled uppers, I've used mid-gas & rifle gas barrels that weigh from 27 oz on the light side to 31 oz on the heavy side. I have no desire to go heavier.
For 16" barreled uppers, I've used barrels use mid-gas & intermediate gas barrels that weight from 25 oz to around 32 oz, but I have a pencil barrel from WC that goes 19 oz that I have not built yet. 32 oz on a 16" barrel is pretty heavy, IMO & I don't like to go there unless there's a reason.
I use rails that go from 12.6 - 13.7" as a rule, but I do have a couple or 3 of that are longer, but no longer use that length unless there's a compelling reason (like a great price).
I use lighter weight stocks, preferring a general SOPMOD style of some sort, & have used very light MFT stocks on a couple of builds.
Most of my barrels are stainless, but several are CL...............stainless barrels tend to have more options available for weight & configuration than CL does.
I expect performance of around MOA for 5 shots from all of my barrels / uppers, & with what I have, I get that with pretty much everything..............a couple of purchased guns / upper from highly reputable sources, struggle to make that grade, sometimes yes, sometimes not quite, but those also do not have 24x optics, so precision is more difficult to come but at range with lower magnification, at least for me.
I don't worry much about 10 shot groups anymore, just doing that once or twice to validate a new gun.................past 5 shots, I'm testing myself more than the gun, so it really doesn't mean as much as several 5 shot groups, IMHO, these days.
And I'm in Blue's camp of the fact that nice round groups that maintain POI, day in, day out are more valuable that 1/2 MOA groups that move or are very ammo sensitive; see linked article below that I have posted before by Jack Leuba of Knights Armament on this subject. (I ahve 3 KAC rifles & all 3 perform exactly as Leuba describes a rifle should perform)
My serious ammo is fixed, & while I shoot various other ammo, i have an ammo standard, with sufficient supply.
Light weight barrels can shoot verry well & since I've had good luck with a slightly heavier WC barrel, I'm interested to see what the new pencil barrel will be capable of as I got it at a go-to-hell price, so good I had to give it a whirl.....................just haven't taken time to put it together yet are the weather is still not warm enough to do a lot of shooting on any given day.
YMMV
MM
Let's Talk Accuracy by Jack Leuba, Knights Armament